Exchange - Dale R. Cozort.pdf

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Exchange
Dale E. Cozort
Other works by Dale R. Cozort
American Indian Victories—Alternate Histories
of the Struggles between Indians and the
Europeans
Char
The BEMs
Books can be ordered from:
www.bytechservices.com
1500A East College Way #554
Mount Vernon, WA 98273
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About the author…
Dale Cozort is a computer instructor, married, with a
teenage daughter and adult stepdaughter. He has been
writing seriously for fourteen years—mostly science
fiction short stories or alternate history essays. He has
written three novels and a book-length series of alternate
history essays called American Indian Victories. His novel
Char was one of five finalists in the TrueTV Search for the
Next Great Crime Writer contest.
His political and historical essays have appeared on the
popular military/historical website StrategyPage.com.
Dale lives near Chicago with his wife, daughter, too many
books and computers, three cats and two worried birds.
He is active in the Chicago area Science Fiction
Convention scene.
For more information, see: www.dalecozort.com or
contact me via e-mail at dalecoz@aol.com
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places
and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination
or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual, real
life events, locales or persons (living or dead) is entirely
coincidental.
ISBN 0975431471
ISBN-13 978-0975431474
© 2010 Dale R. Cozort
Dedication
To My Family and My Online and Real World
Writing Groups
Author’s Note
The Exchange is the product of stolen minutes…bits of
time between work and family obligations over a period
of more than a decade. It’s also the product of a wife and
children willing to respect my writing time, individuals in
writers’ groups willing to read pieces of the original very
rough drafts and suggest improvements, and especially of
Beth Hill, the incredibly patient editor who showed me
levels of novel polishing I had been only dimly aware of,
and of the publisher who believes in this story enough to
make the considerable financial investment involved in
bringing it to market.
For the latest information, drop by my website
www.DaleCozort.com or my blog at
http://dalecoz.livejournal.com
About the cover…
The cover illustrations were created by artist Pav
Kovacic. http://pavsketch.blogspot.com
Graphics designer Guy Corp pulled the whole thing
together. http://www.grafixcorp.com
Exchange
Chapter One
The prelude to the Exchange announced itself with a gust
of ionized air, a shift of electrical charges that made Sharon
Mack’s skin tingle. Eleven fifty-eight. Two minutes early by
Sharon’s watch. Hot sunlight poured from a cloudless sky onto
strip-mall parking lots running along both sides of Highway 25
on the outskirts of Rockport, Illinois. Under the supervision of
surveyors, a team of hastily drafted civilians stretched yellow and
black warning tape at the boundary of the Exchange Zone—the
EZ. A curved line of white stakes stretched left and right—
marking the calculated fringe of Bear Country.
Sharon stretched her back and wiped perspiration from her
forehead before returning to her assigned task—keeping the
clueless from wandering under high-tension power lines.
Overhead a crew worked on the wiring, freeing cables and
dropping them to the ground. It was better to drop the lines in a
controlled manner before they were cut by the Exchange than
chance them snapping afterward. A trickle of sweat ran into her
eyes. She blinked at the sting.
Marines, rifles at the ready, patrolled the inside edge of the
EZ. Illinois State Police had jurisdiction outside; tan-clad officers
watched over a work group digging up a natural gas pipeline to
seal the end. A stream of trucks carrying workers, equipment, and
additional Marines rumbled along the four-lane highway into the
EZ.
In the opposite direction, bumper-to-bumper traffic
jammed the highway—refugees fleeing Rockport. Sharon glanced
at the cars and hoped Bethany was in one of them. Her stomach
knotted.
Bethany. Her daughter. Seven years old.
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